You may have heard on the news that a double amputee has conquered Mt Everest.
I heard a radio announcer say the following:
Last night while we were at home watching TV a guy with no legs climbed Mt Everest
What has overshadowed this achivement for Mark Inglis is that on the way up his party passed a man who had got into trouble coming down the mountain and was slowly freezing to death. They made the call to leave him where he was and continue to the top. Sir Edmund Hillary (the guy who first reached the top of Everest) has come out and criticised Mark Inglis and his party for not abandoning the summit and getting the freezing climber down the mountain. Marks response has been to say that the freezing climber was too far gone and that there was no hope for him. Mark and his party were not the only people to pass the freezing climber by, apparently over 40 people went by him.
Mt Everest (www.friendlyplanet.com)
The media has taken to this in a frenzy and Mark has not returned to New Zealand a hero but a villian.
Some of the people attempting Everest have paid significant money to climb Everest, some news articles say in excess of $50,000. But being faced with the choice of trying to save a man who was freezzing to death and reaching the summit, over 40 people walked by and left the climber to freeze.
How much is a human life worth?
The questions this raised for me was how much is a human life worth? If I was one of those 40 people would I give up my dream of reaching the summit to help a fellow climber? would I sacrifice my significant cash investment to save a guy who might die anyway?
I don't have answers for these are hard questions, I would like to argee with Sir Edmund and say I would forget the summit, but I don't know... what would you do?
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